:format(jpeg):focal(1251x997:1261x987)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gfrmedia/37GTH2QJXVAJZHXZDCQEGX5AGU.jpg "The United States seeks to partially end special judicial supervision over migrant children")
San Diego — The government of USA will seek to partially end 27-year judicial oversight of how the federal government cares for children migrants who travel unaccompanied by an adult, shortly after developing their own set of protection measures against abuseaccording to a lawyer involved in the case.
He Justice Department has informed lawyers opposing the measure that it will ask a federal judge on Friday to end the so-called Flores Agreement at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which assumes custody of the children who traveled unaccompanied by an adult within 72 hours of being detained by Border Patrolaccording to Leecia Welch, associate director of litigation at Children’s Rights, which represents the children in the case.
The historic agreement, named after a migrant girl from El Salvador, Jenny Flores, will remain in effect in the Border Patrol and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), creating what Welch called a “piecemeal” rollback. Attorneys for the children who traveled alone will oppose the measure, which would be subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles.
The Justice Department declined to comment. At this time, HHS had no comment on the matter.
The Flores Agreement is a critical policy because it mandates that children be quickly released to relatives in the United States and establishes standards at licensed shelters, including for food, drinking water, adult supervision, emergency medical services, toilets, and sinks. , temperature control and ventilation. It arose from widespread allegations of mistreatment in the 1980s.
The move has the potential to further strain the president’s already complicated relationship. Joe Biden with immigration advocates as the Democratic president grapples with an unprecedented increase in border crossings in an election year. Border apprehensions have surpassed 2 million in each of the last two fiscal years, including nearly 300,000 unaccompanied children.
Biden has opted for stricter law enforcement as Republicans criticize his handling of the border. His administration plans another rule aimed at denying more asylum claims during initial screenings, a possible prelude to stricter measures at the border.
The proposal to partially undo the Flores Agreement comes less than three weeks after HHS published a rule establishing safeguards for child custody. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said the rule, which will go into effect on July 1, will establish “clear standards for the care and treatment of unaccompanied (migrant) children.”
Welch said ending special oversight could prevent children’s attorneys from inspecting HHS shelters and interviewing children in the department’s care.
“The only reason they would want to do this now is because the Flores program is a thorn in their side.”Welch said. “We can go into their facilities whenever we want, we can talk to the youth there, and when they don’t comply we can file motions to enforce the law, and they don’t like that.”.
Maintaining judicial oversight for DHS would leave critical parts of the Flores Agreement intact, including a 20-day limit on Border Patrol holding unaccompanied children and parents traveling with a child. Border Patrol detention facilities have experienced extreme overcrowding as recently as 2021, and the federal government has steadfastly resisted calls to detain children and families beyond 72 hours.
When the Flores Agreement went into effect in 1997, the care of migrant children was the sole responsibility of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was dissolved six years later with the creation of DHS. Since 2003, HHS has taken over the care of children who traveled unaccompanied by an adult within 72 hours of their arrest. The division became a nightmare in 2018 when former President Donald Trump’s administration separated thousands of children from their parents at the southern border, and the two agencies’ computers were not properly linked to quickly reunite them.
In 2014, a surge in arrivals of unaccompanied children at the border prompted increased scrutiny from the federal government, and the high influx continues today. Arrests of children traveling alone at the Mexican border surpassed 130,000 last year. HHS releases most unaccompanied children to close family members while immigration judges evaluate their futures.
In 2020, a federal appeals court granted the Trump administration’s request to end the Flores Agreement for HHS, but blocked its attempt to withdraw oversight at DHS. The change never took effect.
“For a while everything was quiet and then we started to hear rumors that they were going to move forward with their own regulations, which were going to be bigger and better and compatible with Flores”Welch noted.
In October, HHS released a proposal that garnered more than 70,000 public comments. It released a final version last month.
HHS said last month that the rule “implements and goes beyond” the Flores Agreement. Among other things, it creates an independent office of a human rights ombudsman, establishes minimum standards in overflowing temporary shelters, and formalizes progress in review protocols for the release of children to families and sponsors and for legal services.
Welch said the new rule has “many positive aspects” but does not address unlicensed shelters that are contracted by HHS, which he considers the most important piece of the Flores Agreement. In 2021, the governor of TexasGreg Abbott, revoked the state licenses of facilities that care for migrant children.
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